There are many instances in a laboratory, work shop or other setting where liquid removal is desired. For example, there may be spills or leaks or overflows where it is desired to achieve prompt and relatively effective removal of liquids. While absorbent towels or other conventional means will pick up liquids, there are many instances where it is desirous that the liquid not come into contact with the skin. Thus, there is a need for a liquid removal system which avoids contact with personnel as much as possible.
In the medical area, particularly for wound drainage or chest drainage, there is a need for expeditious and efficient removal of liquid such as blood or other bodily liquid. In view of current concerns over the transmission of communicable diseases through contact with body liquid, there is a need for a system of removing body liquid where personal contact is minimized thereby reducing the risk of disease transmission.
The present invention also has particular applicability in one embodiment as a female external catheter. As the average age of the population in this country increases, a greater number of people are living longer than in the past. The advances in medicine and patient care have contributed greatly to the increased life expectancy. Unfortunately, although there is a greater number of persons who are living to an advanced age, not all these persons are enjoying this benefit through an active lifestyle and have good health. Naturally, there is also an increase of patients who are older but have, for one reason or another, become bed-ridden or have limited mobility due to age or physical disability.
In the past, there was a tendency for families to try, at least initially, to have an older family member reside with them. However, due to various economic and sociological factors this is not always a viable answer to care for the elderly. As a result, there has been an increase in nursing home patients. While some of these patients can care for themselves it will be appreciated that a large number can not readily do so.
Where the patient is ambulatory and has all his or her faculties, the patient can use the bathroom facilities. However, not all of these aged patients, either in the home or nursing home, are ambulatory or have the physical ability any longer to make use of the facilities in a timely fashion. Thus, where the patient is incontinent or bed-ridden or with limited ambulatory abilities, nursing homes and families have been required to use absorbent products such as diapers or indwelling catheters for health or sanitary reasons. Indwelling catheters, however, have the problem of raising the risk of infection.
While diapers do provide increased sanitary benefits for the patient, there are a number of problems that are encountered in their use. First, cloth diapers have laundry costs attributed to them. There is also the sanitary problem of having soiled diapers around before they are disinfected. Disposable diapers while more expensive than cloth are more convenient yet have certain ecological drawbacks. Neither type of diaper, however, is a satisfactory solution because neither the nursing home staff nor the hospital staff can constantly monitor the diaper. As a result, there are times when the patient will be forced to wear soiled diapers before the condition comes to the attention of the staff. Even where the nursing home or hospital has the best of intentions, the facility is frequently short handed on certain shifts and there are, unfortunately, delays in caring for the patient. As a result, with either type of diaper, there are instances where the patient does not receive immediate care in having the diaper removed and replaced with a fresh one. Further, soiled diapers are likely to increase the risk of skin breakdown thereby causing infection and patient discomfort.
In view of the problems with diapers, there have been a number of prior art female external catheters which attempt to solve the problems encountered by bed-ridden patients or patients with limited ambulatory abilities or incontinent female patients. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,768 to Keane discloses a portable urinal with a suction means and includes an interface unit designed to fit a female human. The interface unit comprises a suction head having the ability therein for receiving a removable pad of an open cell porous material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,058 to Anderson discloses a female urinal comprising a lined shell receptacle having a drainage tube attached. An in-line pump is provided in the tube in the form of a corrugated or cellulose portion with one way valves at each end to provide suction for removing voided urine from the receptacle chamber. Michaued, U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,901 discloses a urine collection device having a generally funnel shaped collecting chamber filled with a wicking material.
A multi-layer absorbent structure or bandage is disclosed in Mayer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,015. The absorbent structure of Mayer provides two layers of absorbent material separated by a grid material and covered on one side by a moisture permeable layer and on the other side by an impermeable layer. The upper absorbent layer may be a cellulose material while the lower absorbent layer may be a synthetic cellular sponge. Another absorbent article is disclosed in Meyer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,603. This absorbent article comprises a body of substantially hydrophilic material having a facing, liquid permeable top sheet layer of substantially hydrophobic material. A liquid permeable transport layer is positioned between the top sheet and the absorbent body and is made of a material which is less hydrophobic than the body.
Truinfol, U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,675, discloses a device for collecting liquid discharged from females which includes a flexible pad having an elongated central opening for registration with external genitalia. An absorbent core is provided and may comprise a plurality of layers of material.
Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,061, discloses an automatic urine detecting, collecting and storing device comprising a collection vessel for placement against a person wherein the vessel includes a plurality of sensors for detecting the presence of urine to thereby activate a suction producing means whereby urine is drawn from the vessel to a storage tank.
Kuntz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,166 presents a liquid aspiration system for the management of urinary incontinence which includes an absorptive pad for placement adjacent the urinary tract of a patient, the pad having an inner core of urine-absorptive material, an upper pad facing layer of liquid permeable hydrophobic material in contact with the patient and a lower pad backing of impermeable material. The pad encloses a flexible perforated tube having a liquid outlet connector at one end. Also included are a vacuum source, a urine collection vessel and vacuum tubing coupling the tube within the pad to the collection vessel and the vacuum source. The inner core of the pad may be a plurality of layers of absorptive material including cellulose tissue, defiberized wood pulp and expanded cellulose microcellular material.
Kuntz's absorbent pad has a tube at the bottom with a plurality of holes. This tube is in turn connected to a vacuum source during operation, the urine is absorbed into the pad and is then partially removed by the vacuum applied to the bottom of the pad and the body of the absorbent material via the perforated tubing. The vacuum source may run continuously or be activated by a liquid detector in the pad.
An external catheter assembly for women is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,508 to Washington, which includes a panty support for proper placement of the collecting shell. The panty and the shell have cooperating means whereby the shell position can be adjusted relative to the crotch of the panty and the wearer to achieve the optimum location for comfort and function. The panty is also provided with means to adjust for different sized wearers.
Bopp, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,474, discloses a body liquid drainage device comprising a wedge shaped reservoir having hinged sidewalls joined along a common edge with a collapsible sidewall between them. Spring means are disposed inside the device to urge the hinged sidewalls apart and inlet and outlet ports with at least one way valve are provided for fluid flow.
A device for detecting the pressure of urine at the genital region is disclosed in Conkling, U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,541. The Conkling device includes an external urine collecting vessel which is supported at the genital region to contain the urine within the vessel. Liquid sensors are contained within the vessel for detecting the presence of urine and automatically activating a pump to draw the urine through tubing to a temporary storage chamber. A liquid impermeable liner is provided in the collecting vessel to direct urine away from the user.
Ersek, U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,075 discloses a surgical drain apparatus comprising an elongated drain member and a receiving bag. The bag may be provided with a biasing member to urge the side walls apart following compression thereby producing a negative pressure in the bag and a suction in the drain member.
Kohnke, U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,653 discloses an aspirator comprising a container having a cap shaped member which can be displaced to create a suction in the container and an attached aspirating tube. One embodiment includes a motor and a pivoting arm connected to the cap to provide the displacement thereof.
Thus, while there are a number of prior art attempts to solve the problem of helping patients to remain clean and dry none of these devices are satisfactory solutions.